Reef Interests Selects Telles’ Mirel-based Denitrification Biopellets

Mirel DP9002 Removes Nitrates to Improve Water Quality for Fish
and Other Marine Life

March 08, 2011 08:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Telles, a joint venture between Metabolix,
Inc. (NASDAQ: MBLX) and Archer Daniels Midland Company, today announced
that Reef Interests, an innovative provider of home aquarium systems
located in the Netherlands, is launching a biodegradable product based
on Mirel™ DP9002 for managing waste generated in aquariums and marine
environments. The product will be sold throughout the U.S., Europe,
Russia, China and other key markets.

Nitrates generated as waste products from fish foods and other sources
can rapidly build up in fish tanks, overpowering the denitrification
organisms. By activating existing microbes that are present in the
aquarium, Mirel initiates a more efficient denitrification process that
helps improve water quality.

“Keeping waste products such as nitrate and phosphate under control is
often a difficult task, which requires expensive and complex filtration
systems,” said J.P. ten Klooster, Chief Executive Officer at Reef
Interests. “We found that the Mirel solution provides long term and
efficient control of nitrate levels.”

“Mirel continues to open up a number of new market opportunities for
Telles, from compost bags to packaging solutions, and now marine
applications including denitrification,” said Bob Engle, Telles general
manager. “With Reef Interests, we are bringing an efficient and
long-lasting denitrification solution to consumers in the home aquarium
market. By creating a safe and highly effective process for water
denitrification, Telles will work with its partners to expand Mirel’s
applications for marine environments.”

Mirel is biodegradable in marine environments in accordance with ASTM
D7081 for marine-biodegradable non-floating plastics. This standard
specification, along with the standard method ASTM 6691 for determining
aerobic biodegradation of plastic materials in the marine environment,
was developed at the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and
Engineering Center (NSRDEC) in Natick, Massachusetts, with support from
the U.S. Navy and the Waste Reduction Afloat Protects the Sea (WRAPS)
Program. Metabolix has worked with NSRDEC using Mirel PHA to help
qualify the biodegradation of water-resistant yet marine-biodegradable
bioplastics.

About Reef Interests

Reef Interests was founded in 2008 as a company dedicated to optimizing
the sustainable aquaculture and husbandry of marine animals. Reef
Interests provides feeds and life support systems designed to facilitate
the aquaculture and husbandry of a wide array of marine organisms. Our
products are used by aquaculture facilities, public aquaria, zoos and
private aquarists. For more information about local vendors, please
visit the official website of Reef Interests, www.reefinterests.com.

About Mirel Bioplastics

Mirel is a family of bioplastic materials that have physical properties
comparable to petroleum-based resins, yet are biobased and biodegradable
in natural soil and water environments, in home composting systems and
in industrial composting facilities where such facilities are available.
The rate and extent of Mirel’s biodegradability will depend on the size
and shape of the articles made from it. However, like nearly all
bioplastics and organic matter, Mirel is not designed to biodegrade in
conventional landfills.

Commercial grades of Mirel are available for injection molding,
thermoforming, sheet extrusion and film applications. For more
information, please visit www.mirelplastics.com.

About Metabolix

Founded in 1992, Metabolix, Inc. is an innovation-driven bioscience
company focused on providing sustainable solutions for the world’s needs
for plastics, chemicals and energy. The Company is taking a systems
approach, from gene to end product, integrating sophisticated
biotechnology with advanced industrial practice. Metabolix is now
developing and commercializing Mirel™, a family of high performance
bioplastics which are biobased and biodegradable alternatives to many
petroleum-based plastics, through Telles, a joint venture between
Metabolix and Archer Daniels Midland Company. Metabolix is also
developing a proprietary platform technology for co-producing plastics,
chemicals and energy, from crops such as switchgrass, oilseeds and
sugarcane.

This press release contains forward-looking statements which are made
pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities
Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934, as amended. The forward-looking statements in this release do
not constitute guarantees of future performance. Investors are cautioned
that statements in this press release which are not strictly historical
statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding
expectations for Mirel market demand, constitute forward-looking
statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those anticipated and are detailed in Metabolix's
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Metabolix assumes
no obligation to update any forward-looking information contained in
this press release or with respect to the announcements described herein.